Crew seating arrangement

Flight

For the first time in space
shuttle history, a "rocketcam" video camera mounted to the upper part of
Atlantis' external tank returned
NASA flight controllers with live video of the flight.
The video was near perfect until the two solid rocket boosters were jettisoned.
At that point, the exhaust from the separation motors fogged the camera lens
and made the rest of the video difficult to see.Later,
NASA announced that it was looking into a problem with
explosive bolts that failed to fire properly during the launch. Immediately
before the twin solid rocket boosters fired into life, only one set of
pyrotechnics in ten explosive bolts exploded when commanded to do so. All 10
nuts exploded as planned, but
NASA was interested in finding out an explanation for
the unexpected anomaly.

The major objective of
STS-112 mission (ISS Assembly Flight 9A) was the delivery of the
45-foot-long (13.7 meters), 15- ton S-One (S1)
Truss to the
ISS. The
S1
Truss was attached to the starboard side of the centerpiece truss, the S-Zero
(S0)
Truss, on which the Mobile Transporter (MT), Mobile Base System and the
Canadarm2
robotic arm are mounted. The
S1
Truss enabled the station to begin the outboard expansion of its rail system in
preparation for the addition of new power and international science modules in
the years to come. The large truss contains a new external cooling system for
the station, a second S-Band communications system to provide enhanced and
extended voice and data capability, a cart which will serve as a mobile work
platform for future spacewalkers, two new external television cameras and the
first Thermal Radiator Rotary Joint (TRRJ), which will provide the mechanical
and electrical energy for rotating the station's heat-rejecting radiators based
on various system requirements. Three spacewalks were carried out to install
and activate the truss and its associated equipment.

The S1
Truss was the second of 11 such truss structures that ultimately expanded
the
ISS to the length of a football field and increased
its power through the addition of new photovoltaic modules and solar arrays.
The 27,717 lb. (12,572 kg)
S1
Truss is primarily an aluminum structure that is 45 feet (13.7 meters) long, 15
feet (4.6 meters) high and 6 feet (1.8 meter) wide.Both
S1
and eventually
P1
provide structural support for the Active Thermal Control System, the Mobile
Transporter, a
CETA cart and antennas. The
S1
has an S-band system; the
P1
a UHF system. Both trusses also have mounts for cameras and
lights.Additionally, both
S1
and
P1
carry one radiator each as part of the space station's cooling and heating
system. The radiators are deployed in orbit and use 99.9 percent pure ammonia.
The radiator assembly also rotates to keep itself in the shade and away from
the sun. Each radiator has 18 launch locks securing the assembly during launch.
The locks were removed during a spacewalk before deploying the
radiators.The addition of
S1
also extends the Mobile Transporter (MT) rail line. The
MT car travels along the length of the truss structure
and carries spacewalkers, tools, construction items and the space station
robotic arm. Flying aboard
S1
is one of two
CETA carts that move spacewalkers along the
MT rails to worksites along the truss structure. The
cart is manually operated by a spacewalker and can also be used as a work
platform.
S1
and
P1
carry one cart each.The
P1
Truss differs slightly from
S1
and could be considered a mirror image. It has the same capabilities as the
S1
except that
P1
carries a UHF antenna. The
P1
also carries a second
CETA cart.

Atlantis also delivered the Crew
Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) Cart to the Space Station. The
CETA cart was attached to the Mobile Transporter
(launched on STS-110) to be used by
assembly crews on later missions.CETA, one of the largest pieces of extravehicular
activity (EVA) equipment built for the International Space
Station (ISS), will accompany the first starboard truss, called
S1,
to orbit. This truss will become the backbone of the four solar wing assemblies
and will incorporate many orbital replaceable units (ORUs). Installation and maintenance of these
ORUs - for example batteries, the DC-to-DC converter,
the Remote Power Controller Module, and the multiplexer/demultiplexer - is
critical. At this time,
NASA uses spacewalking crewmembers or robotics to
repair or replace those units. The need for a work platform that could also
provide the crew with a means of transporting themselves, the necessary tools
and
ORUs safely and easily along the truss became crucial.
The SEAT-engineered
CETA fulfills those requirements.The
CETAs are launched as integrated parts of the
S1
and
P1
Truss segments. Once deployed on orbit, crewmembers can propel themselves and
accompanying hardware manually along the Mobile Transporter (MT) rails. On orbit, the two
CETA carts will be located one on each side of the
MT for usage flexibility. If required, a cart may be
moved to the other side of the
MT to complement the other cart. The
CETA has attachment points for other
EVA
hardware such as the
ORU Transfer Device (OTD), also known as the Space
Crane; Articulating Portable Foot Restraint (APFR);
EVA
Tool Stowage Device (ETSD); and a host of other small crew and equipment
restraining tools. During
ISS assembly operations, crewmembers will also use
CETA as a work platform to reach 90 percent of the
worksites safely. When not in use, the
CETAs will attach to the
MT for stowage and become part of a "train" that
allows the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (the station's robotic arm)
to move freely along the truss.

On flight day 2 the Shuttle crew
performed middeck
ISS payload status checks, checkouts of the shuttle
robotic arm, spacewalkers' spacesuits, rendezvous tools and prepared for
transfer. The shuttle
RMS was left powered on in preparation of the
S1
installation activities on Flight Day 4.

Atlantis' rendezvous and
docking with the International Space Station began with the precisely timed
launch of the shuttle on a course for the station. During the first two days of
the mission, periodic engine firings gradually brought Atlantis to a point
about 9 ½ statute miles behind the station, the starting point for a
final approach to the station.About 2 ½ hours before the scheduled
docking time on Flight Day 3, Atlantis reached that point, about 50,000 feet
(15,240 meters) behind the
ISS. There Atlantis' jets were fired in a Terminal
Intercept (TI) burn to begin the final phase of the rendezvous. Atlantis closed
the final miles to the station during the next orbit.As Atlantis closed in,
the shuttle's rendezvous radar system began tracking the station and providing
range and closing rate information to the crew. During the final approach,
Atlantis could do as many as four small mid-course corrections at regular
intervals. Just after the fourth correction was completed, Atlantis reached a
point about half a mile below the station. There, about an hour before the
scheduled docking, Commander Jeffrey
Ashby took over manual control of the approach.Jeffrey
Ashby slowed Atlantis' approach and flew to a point about 600
feet (182.9 meters) directly below the station, from which he began a
quarter-circle of the
ISS, slowly moving to a position in front of the
complex, in line with its direction of travel. Pilot Pamela
Melroy helped Jeffrey
Ashby in controlling Atlantis' approach. Mission Specialist
David Wolf also played key roles in the rendezvous, using a
handheld laser ranging device and operating the docking mechanism to latch the
station and Atlantis together after the two spacecraft make contact. Mission
Specialist Sandra
Magnus was backup on the docking system and Mission
Specialist Piers
Sellers filled the backup role with the handheld laser
ranging device.Jeffrey
Ashby flew the quarter-circle of the station while slowly
closing in on the complex, stopping at a point a little more than 300 feet
(91.4 meters) directly in front of the station. From there, he began slowly
moving Atlantis toward the station at about a tenth of a mile per hour (0.16
km/h). Using a view from a camera mounted in the center of Atlantis' docking
mechanism as a key alignment aid, Jeffrey
Ashby precisely centered the docking ports of the two
spacecraft. Jeffrey
Ashby flew to a point where the docking mechanisms were 30
feet (9.14 meters) apart, and paused to check the alignment.For Atlantis'
docking, Jeffrey
Ashby maintained the shuttle's speed relative to the station
at about one-tenth of a foot per second (3 centimeters per second) (though both
spacecraft are traveling at about 17,500 mph = 28,163 km/h), and kept the
docking mechanisms aligned to within a tolerance of three inches (7.6
centimeters). When Atlantis made contact with the station, preliminary latches
automatically attached the two spacecraft. Immediately after Atlantis docked on
October 09, 2002, the shuttle's steering jets were deactivated to reduce the
forces acting at the docking interface. Shock absorber-type springs in the
docking mechanism dampened any relative motion between the shuttle and the
station.Once that motion between the spacecraft had stopped, David
Wolf
secured the docking mechanism, sending commands for Atlantis' docking ring to
retract and to close a final set of latches between the shuttle and
station.

The successful docking set the stage for the opening of the
hatches and the start of seven days of joint operations between Atlantis' crew
and the resident crew on the
ISS,
Expedition 5 Commander
Valeri Korzun and
Flight Engineers Peggy
Whitson and Sergei
Treshchyov.Following pressure checks, station science
officer Peggy
Whitson asked Commander Jeffrey
Ashby if he had brought the salsa that she had asked for.
When Jeffrey
Ashby replied that he had, Peggy
Whitson said "OK, we'll let you in". The hatches between
Atlantis and the Space Station were opened at 16:51
UTC and astronaut Jeffrey
Ashby floated into the
Destiny
Module and immediately embraced Peggy
Whitson. Mission Specialist Sandra
Magnus followed next, followed by the rest of Atlantis'
STS-112 crew members. They were greeted by the three
member station crew.

The following day, David
Wolf
and Piers
Sellers began spacewalk preparations while Sandra
Magnus and Peggy
Whitson used the
Canadarm2
from inside Destiny to grapple the huge
S1
Truss, lifting it out of Atlantis' payload bay and maneuvering it for its
installation at the starboard end of the
S0
Truss. Capture bolts structurally mated the two trusses after a claw-like
device on the starboard side of the
S0
Truss grabbed a fixture on the
S1
segment. The procedure was timed so that David
Wolf
and Piers
Sellers did not exit the station's
Quest
airlock to begin their first spacewalk until the mating process was
complete.

The first
EVA was performed by David
Wolf
and Piers
Sellers on October 10, 2002 (7h 01m) to attach power, data
and fluid connections between the newest segment of the station's backbone -
The Starboard One (S1)
Truss and the first (S0)
Truss segment. Using the
Canadarm2
robot arm Sandra
Magnus and
ISS-5 crewmember Peggy
Whitson positioned the
S1
at the starboard end before. David
Wolf
and Piers
Sellers also deployed an antenna und released restraints on a
handcar.Toward the end of the
S1
attachment, David
Wolf
attached and entered a foot restraint on the end of the station's
Canadarm2.
Sandra Magnus maneuvered him to the cable tray atop
S1.
Once he was clear, Piers
Sellers moved to the forward side of
S1,
where he released the five radiator launch locks nearest the
S0
connection.Meanwhile, David
Wolf
opened thermal covers over cable trays atop
S0
and
S1,
then demated connectors on the
S0
side from temporary attachment points and connected their free ends to
receptacles on
S1.
Piers Sellers opened a circuit breaker, then closed it once David
Wolf
completed those connections.After those tasks, David
Wolf
and Piers
Sellers collaborated to deploy the S-Band Antenna Support
Assembly (SASA). The new component increased the S-band data and voice
communications capability from the
ISS to ground controllers.David
Wolf,
at the end of
Canadarm2,
was maneuvered to SASA's launch position at the center of truss between the two
keel pin assemblies of
S1.
There he used a Pistol Grip Tool (PGT) to release four launch bolts and two
mast bolts. He and Piers
Sellers removed the SASA from its launch position and David
Wolf
carried it, while Sandra
Magnus maneuvered him on the arm to the installation site
near the inboard end of
S1.
Piers Sellers, meanwhile, moved to the installation site and
released two clamps.David
Wolf
soft docked the SASA to its support bracket, then tightened a stanchion bolt
about nine turns until it dropped out of its launch position. Still using the
PGT, he tightened that bolt about 21 more turns until it reached a hard stop,
completing the SASA physical installation.The next task for David
Wolf
was to demate the ends of four connectors and install them to provide power and
data links to the SASA. Piers
Sellers then removed a shroud covering the antenna, bundled
it and temporally stowed it. Finally, David
Wolf
released four SASA gimbal locks with the PGT and rotated them away from SASA's
high-gain antenna. Then Piers
Sellers handed David
Wolf
the shroud bundle, and David
Wolf
took it with him on the arm to the launch position of the Crew and Equipment
Translation Aid (CETA).The
CETA is a kind of handcar for the truss' rail line,
with which spacewalkers eventually will be able to push themselves and
equipment along much of the 356-foot (108.5 meters) length of the completed
main truss. David
Wolf
released a brake shaft launch lock with the PGT and then used it to release two
portside brake handle launch clamp bolts. He deployed dynamic and parking brake
handles and lock sliders. That complete, he released four bolts that will free
two portside launch handle brackets, and put the brackets in a trash bag.
After setting the
CETA parking brake, David
Wolf
turned his attention to its main launch bolts. He released four scissor bolts,
breaks the torque on four launch restraint bolts and fully released four
others, stowing them in the trash bag. Then he released the
CETA parking brake and pushed it along its rails to a
point near the center of
S0.
There he repeated the portside work on
CETA's starboard side.During David
Wolf's
CETA activity, Piers
Sellers first released three more radiator beam launch locks
on the new
S1
truss. Then he demated the ends of a total of nine power, video and data cables
from their temporary positions on
S0
and mated them to receptacles on
S1.Installation
of the
S1's
outboard nadir external camera occupied David
Wolf
and Piers
Sellers for about the next hour and 15 minutes. David
Wolf
removed the camera, launched on Atlantis' middeck, and the tilt pad cover from
the camera's light before taking the camera from its large bag. He then
maneuvered with the assembly to the starboard keel, where he attached the
assembly, driving its center jacking bolt about 28 turns with a PGT.David
Wolf
next released two camera stanchion launch restraint bolts, then slided the
camera out of its keel interface and moved it to its installation location.
With a PGT he tightened a stanchion bolt about nine turns until it dropped out
of its launch position, then tightened it about another 21 turns until it
reached a hard stop.The spacewalkers then mated eight connectors to take
power, data and images to and from the camera. David
Wolf
and Piers
Sellers then temporarily removed the camera so they could
install four more connectors. David
Wolf
reinstalled it using the PGT to tighten its center-jacking bolt about 28
turns.Near the end of the first spacewalk, David
Wolf
connected a series of cables linking
S0
and
S1
on the Utilities Nadir Tray. The spacewalkers each released five Radiator Beam
Launch Locks.

On flight day 5 they began transfer operations between
the vehicles and prepared for mission's second spacewalk. The crew moved a
number of scientific experiments back and forth between the shuttle and the
ISS to return completed experiments to Earth and
deploy new experiments at the
ISS. Transfer items included a set of liver cell
tissue samples from an experiment studying the function of human liver cells in
microgravity, moved from the station onto the shuttle for return to
Earth.

Payload experiments such as Marshall Space Flight Center's
protein crystal growth thermal enclosures for growing high-quality protein
crystals in micro-gravity experiments were moved to and from the station. Seven
water containers were transferred to the station. Commander Jeffrey
Ashby initiated a Nitrogen transfer process that moved about
15 pounds of the gas from Atlantis to the station by the end of the
day.

The second
EVA by Piers
Sellers and David
Wolf
occurred on October 12, 2002 (6h 04m), in which they continue outfitting the
S1-truss
to bring it to life. They connected ammonia cooling system lines and mount
another external video camera package on the hull of the
Unity
node, among other works.For the second of the three spacewalks, Piers
Sellers ride at the end of the arm and David
Wolf
was the free-floater. After about half an hour for setup after leaving the
airlock, Piers
Sellers had to ride the arm to a position near the left side
of the
Z1
truss and its junction with the U.S. laboratory
Destiny.
David Wolf made his way to the aft side of the
Z1-P6
truss junction.There, both astronauts removed insulation covers on booties
covering quick disconnect (QD) fittings in ammonia lines, part of the station's
thermal cooling systems. Piers
Sellers installed two one-inch "spool positioning devices"
(SPDs) to better match the position of the bodies of
two QDs at the base of the
Z1
truss while David
Wolf
conducted a similar task at the
Z1-P6
truss interface.The installation involved rotating the QD locking collar to
the unlock position, attaching a circular section of the
SPD
to the QD, then adding a clamp-like device to tension it there before finally
checking the
SPD
installation and performing a pull test on the QD.Next, David
Wolf
maneuvered to the
CETA cart, where he spent about 25 minutes releasing
the starboard brake system as well as the swing arm and coupler
restraints.Piers
Sellers, meanwhile, had to ride the arm to the ammonia tank
assembly at the inboard end of
S1.
There he demated two dustcaps and installed the ends of two umbilicals on the
Ammonia Tank Assembly (ATA). The umblicials on the Nitrogen Tank Assembly (NTA) on
the outboard side of
S0
are attached there with QDs, which he used to make the new connection. He
reinstalled the dustcaps he removed from the ATA on the fittings that held the
QDs on the NTA.The next task was a repeat of the camera group
installation on the first spacewalk, involving both David
Wolf
and Piers
Sellers. This installation, however, was on the U.S.
laboratory
Destiny.
Installation steps were virtually identical, though the players were reversed
with Piers
Sellers still affixed at the end of the arm.With the
camera installation complete, Piers
Sellers left the arm's foot restraint and moved to the
CETA light stanchion to retrieve a bag of
SPDs, then moved to the starboard camera group he and
David Wolf installed two days before to temporarily stow the bag.
Then he moved to the inboard end of
S1
where he began installing
SPDs
on one-inch ammonia lines on Radiator Beam Valve Module (RBVM) No. 1.The
RBVM allows or prevents transfer of ammonia supply or return to or from the
Radiator
ORU, allows remote controlled venting of the radiator
fluid loop for replacement of the Radiator
ORU, and provides automatic pressure relief when the
Radiator
ORU is over pressurized. The RBVM also measures
pressure and temperature of the fluid line, provides temperature measurements
of Radiator
ORU environment, provides instrumentation monitoring
data, and receives valve actuation command data. There are 12 RBVMs on the
space station. Each measures 17 in. x 27 in. x 6 in. (43.2 x 68.6 x 15.2
centimeters) and weighs 56 lbs. (25.4 kg).Meanwhile, David
Wolf
replaced Piers
Sellers on the arm foot restraint. Sandra
Magnus moved him to the
CETA light station where he picked up his own
SPD
bag, then maneuvered to the outboard end of
S1.
There, he began installing
SPDs
on one-inch (2.5 centimeters) ammonia line QDs at RBVM No. 6. The two
spacewalkers installed a total of 24
SPDs
during this 2 ¼-hour task.The last task for the second spacewalk was
releasing Radiator Beam Launch Locks. Both David
Wolf
and Piers
Sellers used pistol grip tools to release the launch locks,
turning each of three bolts 60 to 62 rotations.

On flight day 7 the
shuttle crew reconfigured and initiated an oxygen transfer to the high-pressure
gas tanks on
Quest
in the morning. Oxygen was transferred for about eight hours. Once the oxygen
transfer was completed, a reconfiguration to the shuttle oxygen prebreather
protocol was done late in the afternoon.

The third and final
EVA was again performed by Piers
Sellers and David
Wolf
on October 14, 2002 (6h 36m) to complete the installation and checkout of the
newly installed truss segment.The first job on the flight's final spacewalk
was removal and replacement of the Interface Umbilical Assembly (IUA). The IUA
is installed with the Trailing Umbilical System (TUS) on the Mobile Transporter
(MT), the railcar that supports the base for the
station's robotic arm.The TUS incorporates a reel for the trailing
umbilical, a power and data cable linking the station and the
MT as it moves along the tracks on the truss. Program
officials decided to replace the IUA after a bolt securing a backup cable
cutter could not be removed during its initial installation on the
STS-110 mission April 2002.David
Wolf
and Piers
Sellers moved from the airlock to the
MT, on the tracks of
S0.
They first removed the TUS cable, with Piers
Sellers keeping it under tension while being careful not to
bend or crimp it. David
Wolf
loosened three cable connections, then removed the cable cutter before
temporarily stowing the TUS cable.To remove the IUA itself, David
Wolf
detached four cable connections linking it to the
MT. Then Piers
Sellers, using a pistol grip tool, removed four bolts
attaching the IUA assembly to the
MT. Finally he removed the IUA from its "soft dock"
connection and handed it to David
Wolf.Installation of the new IUA was basically the same
operation in reverse, with Piers
Sellers soft docking the new unit and attaching it to the
MT with four bolts. David
Wolf
then made the seven connections between the IUA, the
MT and the TUS.David
Wolf
and Piers
Sellers moved to a point at the junction of
S0
and
S1
for the next activity, the installation of fluid jumpers to enable ammonia
coolant to flow between the two truss segments. Piers
Sellers released two jumpers on
S0,
then moved into the
Canadarm2
foot restraint for a ride to the jumper install position at the lower
segment-to-segment utility carrier. There he joined David
Wolf,
waiting nearby in a portable foot restraint.David
Wolf
mated and installed
SPDs
on two jumper connections on the
S0
side, while Piers
Sellers performed a similar task on the
S1
side. Each connection involved a pull test and a three-minute leak check. David
Wolf
reinstalled thermal covers while Piers
Sellers closed
S1
and
S0
utility tray shrouds. Then Piers
Sellers, still on the arm, and David
Wolf,
moved on to
S1's
port drag link.They worked together to release that drag link, a large
metal rod used as a launch restraint. David
Wolf
released a bolt attaching the drag link to the keel, while Piers
Sellers released a similar bolt attaching the drag link to
S1.
Piers Sellers took the drag link to its stowage location on the
S1
framework and attached it.While Piers
Sellers attached the drag link, David
Wolf
moved to the port keel pin, another launch support device, first tightening two
keel scissor bolts, then releasing two keel pin bolts and rotating keel pin
latches free. Once rotated David
Wolf
reinstalled the bolt, removed two pit-pins. Piers
Sellers reinstalled the keel pin a nearby. The processes were
repeated on the
S1
starboard drag link and keel pin.David
Wolf
and Piers
Sellers, now off the arm, moved to the
CETA handrail cart where each took a 1 ½ -inch
(3.8 centimeters)
SPD
to be installed on ammonia lines near a Thermal Radiator Rotary Joint on
S0.
David Wolf released bolts securing that joint in its launch
position.The last task was to perform a test of the Segment-to-Segment
Attachment System (SSAS) at the outboard end of
S1.
The SSAS there consists of a remotely operated claw and three motorized bolt
assemblies. David
Wolf
depressed ready to latch indicators on each for several seconds. This verified
the readiness of the
S1
segment to receive other starboard truss components on future flights. Finally,
while David
Wolf
did the SSAS test, Piers
Sellers reconfigured the Squib Firing Unit (SFU) power
connector. The SFU is used to release radiator panels for deployment.

The next day, Flight Day 9, the shuttle
and station crews completed some additional transfer work and get-ahead tasks
for future assembly flights before saying goodbye to one another on Flight Day
10 as the hatches were closed between the vehicles.

Once Atlantis was
ready to undock, David
Wolf
sent a command to release the docking mechanism. At initial separation of the
spacecraft, springs in the docking mechanism gently pushed the shuttle away
from the station. Atlantis' steering jets were shut off to avoid any
inadvertent firings during this initial separation.Once Atlantis was about
two feet (61 centimeters) from the station, with the docking devices clear of
one another, Pamela
Melroy turned the steering jets back on and fired them to
very slowly move away. From the aft flight deck, Pamela
Melroy manually controlled Atlantis within a tight corridor
as she separated from the
ISS, essentially the reverse of the task performed by
Jeffrey Ashby just before Atlantis docked.Atlantis continued away
to a distance of about 450 feet (137.2 meters), where Pamela
Melroy began a close flyaround of the station, circling the
complex almost one and a quarter times. Pamela
Melroy passed a point directly above the station, then
behind, then underneath, then in front and then reached a point directly above
the station for a second time. At that point, passing above the orbiting
laboratory, Pamela
Melroy fired Atlantis' jets for final separation from the
station.